> "I want to be a mathematician" is not the same as "shove a textbook under> my nose and make me do 5-10, 20-28 evens, 13, 15."

As I pointed out in my post, we agree on that. I didn?t say everyone should have the textbooks shoved under their noses. I have been campaigning against that for years. But those who like mathematics and want a career involving it or simply just like it, will be into the textbooks. No? We do the same for all of the other *likable* subjects, why not math?

> "Let's be honest here. We..." -- some might raise a skeptical eyebrow right> here. Is that really the truth? I'd say so. You're M-specialized,> without having to pass as a Mathematician with a capital M.

I can?t speak for all of STEM, but my career is heavily vested in much of it. Mathematics, through calculus, is pretty much a staple in STEM. And that doesn?t mean that calculus is used all over, just that the minds that like this work like math as well. If you really liked algebra, it is only natural that you want to know what calculus is about.